← Encyclopedia of Tarot · lesson 10/121
The Hermit
The Hermit is the card of withdrawal for the sake of understanding: stepping back from the noise to think, study or search within. It is often read as reflection, patience, guidance and hard-won wisdom. Its solitude is chosen and purposeful — not loneliness, but the quiet in which something true can be heard.
The image
An old man in a long grey cloak stands alone on a snowy peak at night. In one hand he holds a staff; in the other, a lantern with a six-pointed star shining inside it. He looks down, as if lighting the way for those still climbing. The height is usually taken as attainment; the lantern as the light of wisdom — not hoarded, but held up. Waite reads the beacon as saying "where I am, you also may be".
Upright
Introspection, solitude, study, guidance, prudence. Waite gives "prudence, circumspection". The card can point to a need for time alone, to a period of searching for meaning, to seeking out — or becoming — a mentor, or to a careful, unhurried approach to a question. It tends to favour depth over speed.
Reversed
Waite's own upright list goes on to "treason, dissimulation, roguery, corruption", and for the reversal he gives concealment, disguise, fear and "unreasoned caution". Modern readers often see isolation that has gone on too long, a refusal of help or advice, or the opposite — a fear of being alone with one's thoughts. Some readers do not use reversals at all.
Correspondences
Major Arcana, card IX. In the Golden Dawn system, which most English-language decks follow, he carries the Hebrew letter Yod ("hand"), the 20th path on the Tree of Life, joining Chesed and Tiphareth, and the sign Virgo, so the element of earth — careful attention, discernment and service. French tradition (Papus, the Marseille deck) gives some Majors different letters and signs.
In a reading
In the past, the Hermit can describe a period of retreat or study. As an obstacle, it may point to withdrawal from others. As advice, it tends to say: take time to think before you act, and look for a trusted guide. Beside The High Priestess it is often read as a strong call to listen inwardly.
In astrology
The Golden Dawn's correspondences, which most English-language decks follow (French, Marseille-based tradition differs for some Major Arcana).
Sign: Virgo
Element: Earth — the element of Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn
Mode: Mutable — Virgo is a mutable sign